A draft safety regulation requires all passenger-carrying water-based vessels to have on board rescue equipment that is suitable for the recovery of a casualty in the water, for example, in a man-overboard situation.
There are several rescue devices currently used on vessels for the purpose of sea rescue and recovery. The simplest arrangement is a scramble net comprising a web of ropes. However, such an arrangement is difficult to deploy and use in practice. Furthermore, it is recognised that to minimise the risk of post-rescue collapse and heart failure caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure, a casualty recovered from the water should be maintained in a horizontal position.
One of the most commonly used pieces of rescue equipment is the “Jason's Cradle”™, manufactured by Land and Marine Products (LMP). It enables a casualty who may be exhausted, injured or unconscious to be rescued from the sea by recovering the casualty in a horizontal position within the cradle. It can also be used as a scramble net or a stretcher. The Jason's Cradle™ is made from sections of rigid plastic that are linked together with stainless steel rods to form a grid or network. Disadvantageously, the purchase and servicing of the cradle is expensive. Furthermore, the plastic cradle is bulky and takes up a large amount of storage space. This is especially inconvenient on a small rescue boat or inflatable craft.
Alternatively the “Dacon Rescue Frame” is also used for rescue and recovery. It is made from parallel glass fibre rods connected together by lengths of webbing which lie perpendicularly to the rods. The lengths of webbing are made from a flexible material, which is fastened to the rods using metal rivets.
Stretchers are also commonly used rescue devices. The Neil Robertson Stretcher, currently used by the Royal Navy and NATO, was devised in the early 1900s. It is manufactured using canvas and wooden battens. Unfortunately, the device is susceptible to mildew and also rot in damp conditions (e.g. on-board a boat), and the canvas can be difficult to clean after use.
Stretchers are widely used at sea and on land. For example, Fire and Rescue services use stretchers to transport casualties, and the military also uses stretchers to transport injured military personnel and civilians. A problem with currently used stretchers is that they are large, bulky and unwieldy in small spaces. This means that they are difficult to transport and handle.
A particular problem faced by military patrols is that they cannot take stretchers with them because they cannot be easily transported. Thus, when a stretcher is needed, the patrol must wait for a stretcher to be delivered, for example, by helicopter, before the casualty can be moved. This means that there is a potentially significant time delay before the casualty can be moved, which can result in patrols being exposed to dangerous situations for longer than necessary. Not only does this lead to an increase in the risk of further casualties, but it increases the time before the casualty can be given proper medical care. A vehicle (e.g. a helicopter or a quad bike) on the ground has to be protected and a medical team with a stretcher has to be deployed. Time on the ground is therefore critical.
Fire and Rescue services often have to move casualties using stretchers, for example, from a house. In such cases, it is desirable to move the casualty as quickly as possible so as to remove them, and the rescue workers, from a dangerous situation. Stretchers currently in use by Fire and Rescue services are large and unwieldy and are difficult to manoeuvre in the restricted confines of a house or flat. This may lead to an increase in the amount of time that the casualty and rescuers are exposed to a dangerous environment.
Alternatives to the traditional rigid stretchers discussed above include hammock-type stretchers. Typically, these stretchers are made of a single sheet of material with few rigid elements, meaning that the stretcher can be folded up into a package which occupies relatively little space. This enables the packaged stretcher to be carried, for example, in a rucksack and taken on expeditions in the event that a member of the expedition becomes injured and is no longer able to walk. Of course, this often requires the separate unpacking and insertion of load-bearing rods before use. Some embodiments negate the requirement of inserting the rods by providing hammock-type stretches without insertable rods.
While the hammock-type stretcher may be adequate for transporting a casualty with minor to moderate injuries, such as sprained ankles or broken legs, they are unsuitable for transporting casualties with serious and potentially life threatening injuries. It is essential that a casualty with a suspected spinal injury is transported in such a way that supports the spine and minimises the movement of the casualty to minimise the risk of exacerbating any injury to the spine. It is believed that rigid stretchers are able to provide the required level of support. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a stretcher that is not only capable of being neatly packaged into a small space but also is rigid when deployed.
WO 2009/010777 discloses a device for recovery of a casualty comprising a plurality of rigid rods encased within a sheath made from tubular fabric and a plurality of linking webbing elements.
The present invention seeks to alleviate some or all of the disadvantages associated with some or all of the currently available rescue devices, particularly stretchers.